Cherries
by blackbirdfly5
Summary: One-Shot, slightly AU. After lunch on an early spring day, Magumi introduces some fun in the way of fortune telling. However, the fortunes received by the members of the Kenshin Group are a little unexpected, especially in the case of Kaoru. KenKao


Alright, so this is pretty much just some fluffy nonsense. It is technically post-Jinchuu since I mention Tomoe, but Yahiko still lives at the dojo and Sano will be in it as well because I just love those two too much. I suppose it could technically be considered AU, but whatever.

Also, I tried to include as few Japanese words as I could. What little I know is from manga and anime and I honestly probably can't remember how to spell, let alone use, half of it correctly. However, another author has said (I apologize if you read this, I don't recall who you were to give you credit), and I can't help but agree, that calling it a 'porch' just feels plain weird and I can't bring myself to do it, so I'm sticking with engawa. There are a few other words I let slip, but mostly I kept it English.

Lastly I made an attempt to see if, indeed, cherries had made their way to Japan in this era but alas... This isn't frequently sought information, apparently. So, I erred on the side of doubt and made them something new to the Kenshin Group.

* * *

It was midday and the Kenshin Group was lounging about on the engawa after having finished a lunch prepared by the wanderer himself. A gentle spring breeze tugged at their hair and clothes, carrying the light scent of sakura blossoms.

"I love when the cherry trees start blooming," Kaoru said absently, earning a few murmured agreements.

Megumi sat with her legs tucked delicately beneath her, inspecting the edges of her kimono and occasionally the ends of her hair. Sano laid on is back, knees bent and crossed, arms tucked behind his head. As usual, a fishbone stuck out of his mouth, twitching as he intermittently nibbled on it. Yahiko dangled his legs over the edge, kicking with no real rhythm, and hummed a tuneless song. Kenshin and Kaoru leaned on opposite sides of a pillar, each of them inspecting the land with a small, satisfied smile.

They had all settled into a delightful peace. Until, that is, Sano broke said peace with a sigh that greatly resembled something between a cow's moo and an elephant's trumpeting.

"Must you _be _so barbaric?" Megumi groused, abandoning her vigil of her split ends in favor of fixing the young man with a particularly heated glare.

"I'm bored!" He complained, shifting to lean on his elbows, matching her glare with one of his own. "Are we going to do anything today? Because if not, I'm outta here!" He sat up the rest of the way, crossing his legs to sit half lotus and leaning forward slightly to place his palms on the sides of his knees.

"Some of us are trying to relax!" Kaoru craned her neck to look at him and pursed her lips in annoyance.

"Yeah," Yahiko turned and mirrored the man's position. "Maybe since you're a lazy free-loader this is boring to you, but Kaoru's been running me ragged in practice! I need some time to relax!" He spluttered, noticing the dubious looks they all gave him. "What?!"

"You're still a freeloader, yourself," Kaoru pointed out, an eye brow raised, finally turning her full attention to the conversation and tucking her legs beneath her.

"I help out more than he does!" He barked, pointing accusingly at the spikey-haired ex-fighter for hire.

"Now, now," Kenshin eased, feeling the beginnings of an argument unfolding. "Perhaps there is something we could all do that is both relaxing but entertaining?" He, too, finally faced the discussion, leaning against the post once more and bringing one knee up the rest his elbow on, letting the other leg curl under him.

"Oh!" Megumi perked up, suddenly remembering something. "I almost forgot!" She scooted on her knees over to a small bundle she had previously set just inside the door. Turning back around, she placed the small parcel in the middle of them all, unfolding the cloth to reveal a small box. She then removed the lid exposing small, red fruits with delicate stems on each one.

"What _are_ these?" Yahiko leaned forward to inspect them dubiously.

"They're cherries." The group eyed her curiously. She rolled her eyes and went on to explain, "Apparently, there are cherry trees in other countries that, aside from flowering, also produce sweet fruits. One of Doctor Genzai's more wealthy patrons gave us some the other day after I patched up his nephew's scraped knee," she finished with pride, pretending to inspect her nails.

An awkward silence followed.

Sano sucked in a breath and finally asked what they all were thinking. "And this is entertaining how?"

A threatening cloud hovered over the doctor's head as she shot daggers at him with her eyes. In an instant, however, she was laughing evilly into her sleeve. "Actually," she crooned, "these fruits can tell fortunes." They all seemed to miss the glint in her eyes and couldn't see the malicious smirk on her mouth due to the fact she still hadn't lowered her arm.

Now they all leaned forward, giving the fruits a good once over. Kaoru looked up at the older woman with a quirked brow. "What kind of fortune?"

"It's a surprise," Megumi winked in a way that caused Kaoru to blush for some reason, but apparently she was the only one who saw. The boys had all picked up a cherry by this point. Kenshin turned it over in his palm, Yahiko let it dangle by the stem and prodded at it with his finger, and Sano unabashedly sniffed at the tiny morsel.

"Well," Sano asked, "how do you get your fortune?"

"First remove the stem," she instructed, "but don't throw it away!" She added hastily, giving a chastising look to Sano who had made a move to toss it over his shoulder. She then gestured to the others to follow along. "Now, eat the fruit portion. It's not actually that important in this process. Be careful, though, they have very larges seeds in the center."

"Ow! Now you tell me..." Yahiko grumbled, holding a hand up to his mouth in pain. She simply rolled her eyes in response.

"These are delicious!" Kaoru exclaimed.

"Mm, yes," Kenshin agreed with a light smile. "Though a bit tart," he added sheepishly.

"Anyway!" Sano brought them back to focus impatiently. "On with the fortune telling." He motioned for the woman to continue.

"Now, you place the stem in your mouth and try to tie it in a knot using only your teeth and your tongue." They stared at her incredulously. "Oh, for goodness sake, I'll do it with you." She made quick work of the fruit. "Ready?" Simultaneously, they all popped the stem in their mouths and began their attempts.

Megumi was finished with hers almost as soon as it entered her mouth, producing a neat knot with flourish. Kaoru finished hers almost as quickly. The knot was a little off center, but she shrugged. Kenshin seemed to be having little more trouble. His face was screwed up in concentration. Finally, his eyebrows popped up in surprise and he deposited a loosely tied stem in his palm. Yahiko groaned and gave up, tossing the stem over his shoulder with a grumble. They all turned to look at Sanosuke expectantly.

"Gah!" He spit the stem out. "I broke it!"

Megumi could no longer hold her laughter and cackled loudly. They all felt their faces flush for a reason they could not quite place. They knew, however, she had pulled some kind of trick on them.

"Alright, Fox, you've had your fun!" Sano boomed. "Just what kind of fortune does this tell?!"

"It's an indicator of how well you kiss," she continued laughing, finding pure delight in the way her companions' faces colored.

"Uhg! You're disgusting!" Yahiko's voice broke as he scrambled off of the engawa and slipped his feet into his sandals. "I'm out of here!" He trudged away from them all.

"What?! Hell no! I'll have you know I'm a damn good kisser!" Sano jammed his thumb into his own chest. "I've never heard a woman complain yet!"

"I find that hard to believe," Megumi countered with an impossibly innocent smile, once more laughing behind her sleeve.

"Sano!" Kaoru cried, face beet red. "Megumi! That was inappropriate, especially for Yahiko! He doesn't need to be thinking about kissing at his age!" The hairs stood up on the back of her neck as Megumi's calculating eyes turned on her. "I – what?" she stuttered.

"Well, little Raccoon Girl, how is it that you were the second to finish your knot?" A devilish curve took her lips. "Could it be you've been kissing men without our knowledge?" Sano howled with laughter.

"Someone kissing the little Missy? That's rich!"

"I—what? No! I – I've never..!" She glanced at Kenshin with embarrassment, but his eyes were hidden behind his bangs. She groaned and stood quickly. "That is not the kind of woman I am!" Hot tears pricked at the corners of her eyes. Now if you'll excuse me, I have some practicing to do! You all can clean up here." And she stormed off to change into her training uniform, muttering curses and insults under her breath.

* * *

Later that evening, Kaoru took a bath before bed. She had been so angry and embarrassed that she skipped dinner in favor of running through more katas. Now her stomach grumbled in protest and she considered getting a snack. She stepped out of the bath and dried. Tying her sleeping yukata tightly around her waist, she emerged from the steamy bathhouse.

As the cool night air swirled around her, she yawned. As hungry as she was, the warm bath, coupled with the rigorous training she had done earlier, made her sluggish. She decided to wait until morning to eat and instead slowly made her way to her bedroom.

As she approached, she saw Kenshin sitting on the engawa in front of his room and consequently her own. He seemed to be busy eating a snack of his own. She blushed, remembering their earlier fortune telling and what it implied of her. He hadn't made any comments, but she was sure he had his own thoughts. Maybe, just maybe, she could sneak behind him without him noticing.

Slowly, she tiptoed behind the wanderer. Whatever he was eating was occupying his full attention, and she was almost to her room at this point.

"Oh, hello, Miss Kaoru." She nearly cursed out loud, spinning around guiltily and biting her lip. "Was your bath warm enough?"

"Oh, um, yes." She fidgeted. "Thank you, Kenshin." At the sound of his name, he turned his neck to look at her.

"Care to join me?" He lifted the box of cherries innocently. "You skipped dinner, so you must be hungry, that you must." He smiled pleasantly, seemingly oblivious to the crimson she was sure was lighting her cheeks. As she was about to turn him down, her stomach grumbled audibly.

With a sheepish smile, she nodded and sat beside him, focusing her attention on the moonlit courtyard before them. They quickly fell into a comfortable silence, munching on the cherries that sat between them. She sighed as she relaxed, leaning back on one of her palms.

She thought over the fortune of the cherries, and figured there must have been some flaw in it. Kenshin had been married and had a wife before, Tomoe, who he had surely kissed. And Sano, well... It wasn't as though he went around kissing any girl he felt like, but she knew he had kissed before. Megumi… She honestly wasn't sure about. Maybe she _was_ the best kisser among them. But Kaoru had _never _kissed anyone. Not even any of the boys her father had taught, even though many of them had nearly begged her to kiss them, even if it was just on the cheek.

"Miss Kaoru." She jumped, having been so lost in thought that she almost forgot Kenshin sat there with her. She looked at him and saw him twirling a stem in his fingers thoughtfully. "Miss Kaoru, how is it you were able to tie the stem so quickly?"

Her cheeks heated up and she looked away quickly, drawing up into a more defensive position with her arms crossed tightly across her chest. "So you think I've been kissing men without you knowledge, too, huh?" She huffed, voice tight with indignant anger.

"Oro?" He choked out. "No, no, Miss Kaoru, you misunderstand!" She looked at him from the corner of her eye. He had his shoulders drawn up and an apologetic smile on his lips. "This one merely wishes to know _how_ you did it. The mechanics, so to speak." He shrugged noncommittally. "This one has been trying to get it right for quite some time but has not been able to do it any faster or better than his previous attempts."

She smiled lightly. He was a little bit of a perfectionist. Maybe he just wanted to best her and Megumi, or at least be able to produce a tighter knot.

"Okay, I'll show you," she laughed, plucking a cherry from the dish. She ate the fruit and then stared at the stem, trying to think of how to best explain it. "Well," she drew her eyebrows together, "I held one end in my teeth," she placed it in her mouth and bared her teeth in an attempt to show him. "And then," she spoke around the stem, "I short of… folded it." Again she demonstrated.

He mimicked her movements and bared his teeth. "Like this?"

"Ah, not quite," she closed her mouth, rolling her tongue around and then opened up to show him again. "More like this!" She watched as he removed the stem from his mouth and held it between his fingers, once again considering the mechanics of the act. She shrugged and took the stem from her mouth as well. "Sorry, I guess it's kind of hard to explain with words."

"I suppose so..." He agreed, his voice slightly lower than usual.

"I guess, I'm not really much of a sensei, eh Kenshin?"

Before she could really comprehend what was happening, Kenshin half-turned to her and grasped her face with one of her hands, placing his mouth on hers. Using his other hand to scoot the cherries out of his way he slid closer to her. His tongue skimmed across the seam of her lips and, upon being granted access, swirled about with hers. After a few moments he pulled away, seemingly proud of how she panted and blushed.

"This one apologizes, Kaoru," he said, keeping steady eye contact with her. Her eyes widened at his lack of honorific. "He simply thought that if he could not learn through explanation, perhaps he could learn through example."

She buried her face in his chest in embarrassment, blushing when he chuckled softly. "I'm sorry, Miss Kaoru," he spoke in hushed tones, "perhaps this one was too forward."

"No," she mumbled into his chest. She then looked up at him with determination. "But I'm afraid there is something wrong." He pulled back slightly, looking a little wounded. "I'm afraid that fortune was very wrong, for you are a much better kisser than I." He laughed loudly and pulled her into a tight embrace.

"Perhaps we should investigate further," he pondered aloud, glancing down at her with a teasing smile.

"It can't hurt," she glanced up through her lashes, pink dusting her cheeks. She bit her lips before continuing. "After all, we need to know if this fortune is credible, for the others' sake."

"Of course, for the others." He leaned closer, his lips barely brushing against hers. "After all, we are two very generous people." She made a sound of agreement. "I'd hate for Sano to continue thinking himself a bad kisser and as for Yahiko–"

"Kenshin," Kaoru pouted cutely, pulling back. "Stop talking. Especially about those two."

"Right," he nodded.

And their lips met once more, ignoring the abandoned fruit behind them, and the rest of the world for that matter. The wind fluttered about them, tangling their hair and smelling softly of cherry blossoms.

* * *

I apologize for that atrocious ending. I racked my brain for something a bit more creative, but came up empty handed.

I chose to ignore the fact that kissing would have likely gone against their courting traditions in this time period because, well... This is a one-shot and I certainly don't have the time or patience to write that all out. At any rate, I hope you'll forgive me. :P

If anyone finds any spelling or grammatical errors, please let me know. I never have been very good at proofreading my own writing. I hope I wasn't too repetitive at any point and I hope you thoroughly enjoyed the little story. (:

-Erin


End file.
